Batter up and banter up! The new baseball season is in full swing, and the playful palaver of the plate is wafting through the spring air like the smell of freshly-mowed grass. Take me out to the "call" game!

As lexicographer Paul Dickson observes in his introduction to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, baseball slang leans toward the light and low-key. Baseballese is baseball-ease.

If basketball is a street fight, full of speed and physics ("fast break," "rebound," "pivot"), and football is war, exploding with "bombs," "blitzes" and "shotgun formations," the dialect of the diamond suggests a friendly checkers match. As Steve Palay noted in a 1987 op-ed for The New York Times, "Going into 'extra innings' sounds so much better than 'sudden death.'"

Even the most dangerous play in baseball — the pitcher throwing at the batter to intimidate him — is euphemized into a playful love tap: "brushback," "duster," "chin music." Likewise, when Babe Ruth earned fame for continually unleashing the most powerful weapon in baseball, the home run, he was dubbed not "The King of Clobber" or "The Duke of Death," but "The Sultan of Swat," as if he were a comfy caliph just batting away a pesky fly.

Terms such as "squeeze play," "slider" and "soft liner" seem more appropriate for lovemaking than battle. And what other sport would call its field of play a ball "park"? Even our nickname for baseball refers to its laid-back, easygoing pace: "the national pastime."

This relaxed tone is perhaps best exemplified in baseball's creative use of common comfort food. Names for the ball itself include "pea," "apple," "tomato," "onion" and "stitched potato."

Now it's your turn to step up to the "plate." See whether you can match each of these edible baseball-isms with its correct definition.

Terms:

1. green pea 2. jam sandwich 3. cheese 4. rhubarb 5. cup of coffee 6. ice cream cone 7. can of corn 8. pancake 9. lollipop 10. pickle

Definitions:

A. a minor-league player's brief trial in the major leagues B. a play in which a base runner is caught in a rundown between bases C. a soft pitch that's easy to hit D. a ball caught in the top of a fielder's glove so it looks like a scoop of ice cream E. an easily caught pop fly F. a heated dispute or ruckus G. a rookie H. an old, worn-out fielder's glove I. fastball J. a pitch thrown near the batter's fists

Answers:

1. G 2. J 3. I 4. F 5. A 6. D 7. E 8. H 9. C 10. B

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: at Pixabay